Glossybox October 2013 - Dark Romance

 

So. Glossybox October 2013. The theme was Dark Romance meant to get you in the mood for Halloween and bring out your inner 'vixen'. To be brutally honest, it brought out my inner hater. This has to be one of the worst Glossyboxes I've ever received. Let me show you why. We'll start with the sort of decent stuff. As in, the best of a bad bunch...

 

 

Firstly, a serum from Premae. It's allergen-free and is a skin saviour apparently. I've been using this since I got it, handy since I just ran out of serum, and it does the job. It does make my skin feel quite dry though, so it's a good thing it goes on before your moisturiser.

 

 

So, another item of make up from Mememe. Popular brand of glossybox, but not one I've ever paid for separately myself. This is basically a much cheaper version of Benefit's Benetint. Certainly, it does create a blushed look but to me it looks more unnatural than powder blush, so I'll use it up, but definitely not buy it again.

 

 

Ok, a skin primer. Useful, yup. But more Monu? I think I've now used ever product they do in a mini version all from glossybox pretty much. Give us some change glossybox!

 

 

And here we begin with the absolutely shocking bits. We are back to what used to be classic glossybox. Perfume samples. This is Katie Perry's Killer Queen. It's actually a nice perfume, but I really don't feel it's worth paying for samples at all. I could have picked this up for free in Boots.

 

 

And here we go again. This time, sachets of body cream from Liberata. 2 sachets no less. Apparently it's like a BB Cream for your body. Whoop. Sorry, but yet more disappointment here. I really hope other people got better items in their boxes because this is just awful! Let me know if you guys got anything better. But if you can, I would avoid paying for this Glossybox in general! Really unimpressed!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Bondi New York Monthly Box - The Original August Box

 

Well, this has taken me a long time to post about! I couldn't decide if I should blog about it, as it took me a long time to actually get my box, but decided I should share the wonderus polish anyhoo! So! Bondi launched a monthly subscription box back in August which is $19.99 plus free shipping (even international!) so I jumped at the chance to see what their polish was like! Unfortunately, I had a bit of a bad experience with my first box. Basically, I never received it. Luckily, I contacted their lovely customer service and I managed to get another box sent out, which came so hooray! Their September box has been delayed and won't be dispatched until mid October so I'm hanging on for that one still too, but after that I think it might well be the end of the subscription - trying to save money means a bad experience leads to cancellations with me! But long story aside, onto the 3 polishes I received in my August box.

 

 

First up we have a super limey green called The Limelight. All the polishes have a excellent shiny finish and are really long wearing so this green looks really good. It was an excellent summer colour to get, and stamping over it looked really good so I'll be breaking this out every summer I think!

 

 

 

Next is the classic blue of NYPD. Again,  really lovely shiny finish, and this time a much more all round kind of colour that I could wear with any outfit at any time of year.

 

 

 

Finally, the wee cute polish of Botanical Beauty. Lovely slight purple toned pink it's a much more girly colour than I would normally chose, but I like it. Guess that's the fun of a polish monthly box, you'll get polishes you might not normally try! I like the concept, so I'll let you know how the September box is! I got to chose my colours for this one, so that's exciting!

 

 

 

 

 

 

Blog Sale Update

 

Time for an updated clear out! Few more polishes up so please feel free to check them all out!

 

http://boredatthenailbar.blogspot.co.uk/p/blog-sales.html

The Liebster Award

So, I've discovered I was nominated for this award. How loverly! The lovely Abbie Lou from A Beautiful Delight was kind enough to nominate me for this, so thank you so much dearie! This awards seems to recognise newer or smaller bloggers and helps us get noticed, so it can only be a good thing really I think!

There's a set of rules to go alongside this so here goes:

• link back to the blogger who nominated you
• give 11 random facts about yourself
• ask 11 questions decided by the nominator
• nominate 11 others bloggers to received the award (they must have less than 200 followers)
• create 11 questions for your nominees to answer
• letting your nominees know on their blog that you have nominated them

Ok, firstly let's get my random facts out the way:

1. I'm sure you all might know this already. But I have an addiction. Nail Polish. I think I'm at about 400 bottles right now, possibly more.
2. I am currently 29. The next birthday is getting closer on the horizon though, doh!
3. I work in retail. Fun sometimes, often not. I often think I need a job where I can't be called rude awful names by customers, funny that.
4. I randomly decided last year to go to college to study Nail Care as I wanted to be qualified in something that really interested me. I loved it.
5. I met my boyfriend in high school. Awwww. We've been together 13 years almost now.
6. I am quite an organised person, I love making lists. Yup, Sad.
7. Addiction number 2 is stationary. I might not need any of it, but I want it goddammit.
8. My new favourite shop is Tiger. It involves cheap but funky stationary and kewl home products. I could spend ages in there.
9. I have no idea what I want to do with life as yet, it's getting a tad late I realise. This does panic me of sorts. From time to time.
10. Addiction 3 is instagram. I love that thing. I post random stuff and I can't help it (@boredatthenailbar - shameless plug!)
11. I burn Christmas candles whenever I feel like it. They make me happy. Simple as.

These are Abbie's questions she set out:

1. What's your favourite perfume? -  I am obsessed with Molecule One by essentric molecules. My current bottle is nearly done and it's heartbreaking!
2. What's your favourite online shop?  - right now it's rainbow-connection.co.uk a site selling indie nail polishes in the UK, hooray for cheaper shipping and getting my hands on fabby new polishes! I also love etsy in general, and could spend hours on there!
3. Who is your favourite style icon? - to be honest, I don't really have one!
4. Lipstick or lipgloss? - I'm new to either really, but think I prefer lipstick to have a more intense colour
5. Eat out or order in? - I enjoy either! Nice to be treated to a nice meal out sometimes though.
6. Spring, Summer, Autumn or Winter? - probably Autumn, no snow, but not as hot as summer. Plus I love the dark colours that go alongside it. And wrapping up in warm jumpers!
7. What is your favourite quote? - "What makes life dreary, is the want of a motive" George Eliot.
8. What is your most valued possession? - a locket I was given when I was little, it has my initials on it with my date of birth. Its an unique shape and I only wear it on special occasions.
9. What is at the top of your to-do list in life? - gosh, this is difficult. As I said above I really have no idea what I want to do with my life. Generally, being happy is obviously very important and more recently I would say having children was growing in importance too though, but no clear path as yet.
10. Name one product you always repurchase? -  Collection's lasting perfection concealer in light, this has become my favourite concealer of late.
11. If you could meet one Youtuber or Blogger, who would it be? - I'd love to meet Sprinkle of Glitter - I love her youtube channel and her blog. Always brightens my day.

11 bloggers I'd like to nominate:

1. Skye
2. Chantelle
3. Jayne
4. Lorna
5. Rachel
6. Lisa
7. Megan
8. Jade
9. Mellissa
10. MissMelvis
11. Natalie

My 11 questions for them to answer!

1. What's in your most recent haul?
2. What's your favourite book?
3. What's your most used nail polish?
4. Name the app you most use on your smart phone?
5. Can't live without beauty product?
6. Most embarrassing story involving you?
7. If you could change one thing about your life, what would it be?
8. What is your most used piece of technology?
9. Favourite blog you would recommend to others?
10. Name someone you always watch on YouTube
11. Name your beauty addiction!

Well, longest post ever it seems! Go check out these lovely girlies and give them a follow - hopefully they will be answering these wee questions sometime soon!

Night one and all!

Birchbox September 2013 - Backstage to Real Life

 

Well, after doing so well with my Glossybox post, I'm now uselessly late with this one! Sorry guys! Anyhoo! September's box was all about bringing backstage tools into real life, so we got a selection of products popular with makeup artists and models etc. Firstly, I have to admit something. Apparently there was a teeny bar of Green and Black's chocolate in the box. I barely remember it. I must have inhaled it. Oops.

 

 

Ok. You guys know I have issues with nail polish, and I generally appreciate getting it in beauty boxes. But this? Not good. I admit, I am a tad of a polish snob, but this polish from Reverence de Bastien is apparently worth £16. You wouldn't catch me paying that for it. Or buying it in general. I swatched it, it was gloopy and dried that way too. Another colour might have helped, coz this one was just not me as well. Overall, first item, not fab.

 

 

Secondly, we have a Party Proof lipstick from ModelCo. The formula on this is nice and it feels quite moisturising, but again, I've not done well on the colour. This is just too pale for me and makes me look a little odd! Will probably suit my Mum better, so it might be getting passed on I think! I do like the fact it has a mirror on the end of the lid though, nice feature!

 

 

This product is mystic diamond hair oil by Eva cosmetics. It's an Argan oil with diamond pigments inside to help provide shine. I've been using this since I got it instead of my usual Mythic oil. It's been good so far, and smells nice. But my Mythic oil will easily beat it on price, no way would I be paying £23 for a full size bottle of this! Only complaint I really have on it, is the packaging. The lid sort of snaps off at the top and you have to tip it up to get the oil out, so often you get too much.

 

 

Ahh, the classic. Bioderma. I have to say, I already own a full size bottle (as in 500ml!) of this product, so I loved it beforehand. This sample is a good travel size for a few days away though, so I'll keep it safe for that. This product is amazing at taking off makeup and is gentle on skin, so generally a winner all round!

 

 

Finally, the accompanying body lotion to my shower gel from last month. This is the Ylang-Ylang lotion from Molton Brown. I love it. A very light lotion and it smells really pleasant. Shame it's such a small size! I might well be asking for some of this for my upcoming birthday, so hopefully I'll get to use it more often soon!

 

Overall, I liked this box. I feel Birchbox is getting better lately and I'm finding it hard to decide whether it or Glossybox is winning at the moment. Hopefully, October's box will be just as good as recent boxes!